The Azerbaijan film tells the story of a young teenage boy who moves to the city of Baku after his father is killed by the Russian mafia, who also begin pursuing the boy for money. Dreaming of becoming a musician, he finds an unusual new friend.

The film debuted in North America at the Houston festival thanks to a sister-city cooperation between Houston and Baku.

The 40th Door was funded by the Avanti project, administered by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC (www.sdc.admin.ch). SDC has funded some 50 films from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan since 2003. The film was one of six features chosen in 2003/2004 to receive a $50,000 grant.

Born in 1966, Musaoglu studied theatre directing in Azerbaijan and in Moscow. Since then, he has worked at several film studios, including Azerbaijanfilm and RITM (cineman.az), which produced of The 40th Door. The director of some 50 films, including A Grain of Sand, which was shown at festivals in Turkey, Germany, Estonia, and Russia. Musaoglu is a member of the Union of the Azerbaijan Cinematographers and the Union of Turkish Documentary Cinematographers. He is a founder of the Society for Support of the Development of Documentary Films and Authorial Programs.

Contact information:

Ritm Production
4B, Yeni Yasamal-2, AZ-1112 Baku
Azerbaijan
Tel: +99412 4346423
Fax: +99412 4981993
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www: www.cineman.az